A Sense of Family Life
by blue-azn-rain
Summary: Kinomoto Sakura is your average high school senior. Li Syaoran is your typical high school jock. They've known each other for as long as they can remember but have never bothered to speak a word to each other. But then...what? Read on, dear reader.
1. Chapter 1

**Untitled for now..  
**_by. blue-azn-rain_

_Summary.._Kinomoto Sakura is your average high school senior. She studies, has a job, friends and is a part of a few clubs. Li Syaoran is your typical high school jock. He works out, talks big, and has girls on his mind all the time. They've known each other for as long as they can remember but have never bothered to speak a word to each other. But then...what? Read on, dear reader.

**Chapter One**

Seventeen-year-old Kinomoto Sakura rushed out the door of her pale yellow, two story house, determined to make it to school on time, a task that has always been difficult for her. She sprinted through the wrought-iron gates that separated their house from the outside world and ran down the sidewalk in the direction of her school.

Rounding a sharp corner--and almost falling over--the young, emerald-eyed lady spotted her school at the end of the seemingly loooong street. Picking up the pace, Sakura guestimated that she might _actually_ make it on time. She burst through the school doors and rushed through the halls to the lockers to change into slippers, then up the stairs to her homeroom and into her class just as the bell rang for school to start.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, she took her seat next to the window as all the eyes followed her. She sat quietly, steadying her breathing, as the sensei relayed the daily news and such to the class. After about ten minutes, the sensei wrapped up the news and gave them their twenty minutes to finish homework for their other classes or whatever else they needed to do.

Sakura, the perfect student she is, finished all her homework the night before, so as always, was left bored out of her mind when the sensei finished the announcements early. With nothing else to do, she allowed her eyes to wander about the room.

The cheerleaders were in their usual group gossiping about nonsense. The brainiacs discussed last nights homework like the jocks discussed last night's soccer game and upcoming sports events. Some of the musicians sat around and chatted about a CD new release. Two or three students, who considered themselves artists, gathered around a compostion and excitedly chattered about the piece of art. Which left Sakura, who was uniquely classed as a 'normal' student, to sit and do absolutely nothing.

How she wished her dearest second cousin and best friend, Daidouji Tomoyo, would return from her trip to America. Unfortunately for Sakura, Tomoyo was an up-and-coming fashion designer, and traveled to many different countries for fashion shows of her own and of other renowned designers. As you might have guessed, Tomoyo was flat-out rich, so this was easily allowed and encouraged by her eccentric mother, Sonomi.

It was times like these that Sakura longed for her friend the most, but it would be another week before Tomoyo's return so she just had to make it through the week.

Glancing up at the square clock above the chalkboard, Sakura was relieved to see that only five minutes remained before her first period class, history. She began to stare down the clock, demanding it to speed up. Sadly, the five minutes seemed to take longer than five minutes should so she decided to turn away and look out the window instead. Less than twenty seconds later, the bell rang for them to move on to their first period classes.

Grabbing her bag, she left her windowseat and headed for the seemingly bulging door. A second before she reached the opening, she absent-mindedly looked down at the pink slippers on her feet and collided with a five foot ten, muscular body.

" Sorry," she quickly apologized, and headed on down the hall, only to hear a masculine voice call after her.

" Hey! You think 'sorry's' gonna cut it?"

Turning, she saw it was the chocolate-haired, amber-eyed captain of the soccer team, Li Syaoran. _Don't tell me I bumped into _him. To most others, he was the big man on campus. To Sakura, he was the annoying little brat she knew from kindergarten. Their parents were business partners so they saw each other often at the must-go business parties and banquets, but they rarely exchanged words.

Sighing, she replied, " My greatest apologies, oh Honorable Soccer Captain. I shall never make contact with your divine body ever again."

With these words said, she turned and ran to her history class, leaving the friends of the 'Honorable Soccer Captain' laughing their heads off.

* * *

What do you think? I'm sorry it's kinda short. I wanna get some opinions on it before I continue. I am currently blank when it comes to this title so if you all could please suggest some titles, it would be greatly appreciated. I hope you all enjoyed it.

_And so she disappears through curtains of blue rain..  
blue-azn-rain_


	2. Chapter 2

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_** _My greatest apologies to all of you. I'm so sorry this is so late. It's just that I've been caught up with a lot of important things so it's been hard to go on the computer._

_Well, I just want to thank everyone who reviewed my first chapter. Each review meant a lot to me. Quite frankly, I didn't think I'd get that many reviews. haha. Well, this chapter's to all those who took time to review. Enjoy!_

_Summary.._Kinomoto Sakura is your average high school senior. She studies, has a job, friends and is a part of a few clubs. Li Syaoran is your typical high school jock. He works out, talks big, and has girls on his mind all the time. They've known each other for as long as they can remember but have never bothered to speak a word to each other. But then...what? Read on, dear reader.

**Chapter 2**

The sunlight fell in patches on the ground in the shade of the cherry blossom tree just outside the schoolbuilding. Sakura sat with her back against the sturdy trunk of the beautiful tree. As she ate her lunch, a cool autumn breeze caressed her lightly tanned cheek. She turned to face the breeze, allowing it to flow through her auburn locks.

Soon, she'd have to leave her somewhat peaceful surroundings and walk into her sixth period home economics class. Really, she didn't understand the point of going to home ec. when she could just learn everything she needed from her parents, but she couldn't very well skip class, so when the bell rang for lunch to end, she packed up her lunch box and headed through the double doors to class.

Five hallways and three 'Pardon me's later, she made it to home economics. Once in the strange smelling and almost empty room, she took her seat in the second two-person desk in the middle row. Slowly, the students started to wander in. The last person through the door was their very young and lively sensei, Sachiko-sensei.

Sachiko-sensei was the teacher every male student loved to love. At twenty-six years old, Sachiko was fairly new in the teaching industry, but all the students loved the blue-eyed brunette.

For the last few weeks, she'd been going on (very vaguely) about some huge project that would top all home ec projects and everyone thought that today was going to be the same. But, unfortunately for them, they were wrong.

" All righty, class, today we will stop talking about the project that's coming up."

An audible sigh escaped the lips of almost every student in the room and a few 'yes!' and 'woohoo's came out, too.

" Today, we will _begin_ the project!" Sachiko-sensei gave her students a big, genuine grin.

" But you said we weren't talking about it anymore. If we start it then we'll have to talk about it!" one student blurted.

The grin remained on her face. " True..But, I said we're not talking about the project that's _coming up._ If we start it today, then it's not coming up anymore. It's all ready here!"

" Aw man!"

She walked over to the front of her desk and leaned against it, looking over her students.

" Okay! So here's the 411 on this project. This will count for half your grade. The object of this project is to give you a sense of what family life is like, with you all being the parents. You will be paired off --boy and girl-- and will take care of a real kid. You will be assigned babies and for half the day, you will watch over the child.

" When you are in this class, you will stay in your pairs and will have a 'home', meaning a desk. And while in here, you will be feeding it, changing it and everything else parents do. You guys will take care of them for the second half of the day. The principal has agreed to this project and will allow you to have the babies in class. The baby must spend time with both parents each day, so that is something you will have to figure out. Your grade will be determined by how the baby reacts to you by the end of the project.

" Now, for the information you don't have to know but I'm going to tell you anyway. The babies are courtesy of real parents who need to have their kid taken care of while they work or just take a break. At the end of the day, the parents will come to pick them up so don't take the baby home...That bit of information sounds necessary...Hmm..Well, let's pair you guys up, shall we?"

Sachiko-sensei began calling out the couples.

" When I call your names, find a desk and sit together, please.

Mihara Chiharu and Yamazaki Takashi. Sasaki Rika and Matsushita Hiroki. Nakada Kazumi and Furugawa Tadashi."

So far, everyone was getting a pretty good partner..So far.

" Yanagisawa Naoko and Yamamoto Yoshi."

Slowly, the students got up as their names were called and others got up so the students called could sit together.

" Li Mei Lin and Hashigawa Shigeru."

A relunctant raven-haired, crimson-eyed beauty stood up and trudged up over to an empty desk with Hashigawa Shigeru. Normally, she would've argued the teacher down until she was paired up with her beloved Syaoran, but she knew arguing with Sachiko-sensei was pointless. She wasn't some old teacher who gave up very easily, unluckily for her. So with a sigh, she plopped down next to her new 'husband'.

" Hiirigizawa Eriol and Daidouji Tomoyo..Hmm..I was hoping Tomoyo would be back by now..Well, sorry Eriol, but you'll have to take care of the kid by yourself until your wife comes back."

Snickers could be heard throughout the classroom while a distressed Eriol moaned, dropping his head onto the desk.

" Come on, guys. Quiet down. Now, let's see...ah. Kinomoto Sakura and Li Syaoran."

Sakura had the urge to scream ' Are you KIDDING me?' but, unfortunately, had lost her voice the moment her name was called with his. In her mind, the world was now in total chaos. She was brought back to the real world by a deep voice.

" I don't wanna be paired with you anymore than you wanna be paired with me so just deal with it."

" Whatever," came her muffled reply as she buried her head in her arms.

After calling out the rest of the couples, Sachiko-sensei announced excitedly, " Now that that's over and done with, let's bring in the babies!"

" Already?" the students asked in disbelief.

" Yep!" she happily replied, sliding open the door as little one-year-olds crawled through. When the last one came through, the students all bent forward to see the babies all in a line, sitting on the floor.

A series of 'aww' and 'they're so cute' and 'how adorable' escaped the lips of everyone, even Sakura and Mei Lin, who were, currently, in the worst moods possible.

Sachiko-sensei then called the pairs up one by one to get 'their' baby and 'marriage certificate'. When it came Sakura and Syaoran's turn, Sakura went with her head held high (or rather at normal level) and decided to just deal with it, as Syaoran so nicely put it.

_Just deal with it, Sakura. Just deal..._

_

* * *

_

I should hope that all of you enjoyed it. Please tell me ifthere areany grammer mistakes that I didn't catch. Other than that, please review and tell me what you all thought about it. Criticism is accepted with open arms.

_blue-azn-rain_


	3. Chapter 3

_Summary.._Kinomoto Sakura is your average high school senior. She studies, has a job, friends and is a part of a few clubs. Li Syaoran is your typical high school jock. He works out, talks big, and is hormonal. They've known each other for as long as they can remember but have never bothered to speak a word to each other. But then...what? Read on, dear reader.

* * *

**A Sense of Family Life  
****Chapter 3**

The young, green-eyed beauty sat at her desk, staring at the one-year-old, who was staring right back at her.

" What are we supposed to do with it?" Syaoran asked, leaning back and lifting up the front legs of his chair.

" Hotaru-chan is not an _it_, Li-kun. And we're supposed to be taking care of _her_, " she replied, emphasizing 'her'. She picked up the grey-eyed baby and set Hotaru in her lap.

Fifteen minutes into the project and all the three had done was sit there while the rest of the couples struggled and fussed over their outrageously loud children. There was crying and wailing and running around and burping by both parents and babies. ( The guys thought burping would make the grumpy babies quiet down, but it only resulted in more crying from the babies and fussing from the 'wives'.)

So for the rest of the class period, Sakura and Syaoran took turns holding and playing with Hotaru. It so happened that both of them loved kids and got along pretty well with each other as long as Hotaru was involved. Go figure.

When it hit them that sixth period home economics would soon be over, the class broke out into major chaotic mode. The babies were crawling all over the place; 'parents' kept picking up the wrong kid; and 'moms' were having meltdowns which resulted in makeup meltdowns, as well, which scared the babies and made them cry even more. Then there was the horrible decision of who got the baby first. Surprise. More crying.

Sachiko-sensei sat at her desk and rested her head in her hand, staring wide-eyed at her students. This was definitely, by far, the loudest class today.

Meanwhile, the sensible students fed or changed or did whatever to quiet their babies and discussed, like civilized people, who would have the baby and when, rather than scream and shout orders.

Sakura kindly volunteered to take their baby first and asked Syaoran to hand her hers and Hotaru's bag, while she gathered Hotaru into her arms. Right at that moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of sixth period.

" Okay people!" Sachiko-sensei exclaimed, ready to dismiss the raucous class, " Take your baby and your bag and GET GOING!" She stood up and pointed towards the door, emphasizing their need to go.

Quickly, the students split from the room, most still arguing over who should take the baby. As she waited for everyone to go first (she didn't want to be trampled over), she could see that her friends somehow managed to get the men in their family to care for their child first. She couldn't help but let a giggle slip.

When the class was empty of students (or at least she thought it was), she collected her belongings and headed for the opening, to have someone scare her out of her wits as she was about to step out.

" Kinomoto."

Sakura let out a startled gasp and turned in the direction the voice was coming from. Lo and behold, it was Li Syaoran, leaning against a desk in an oh-so-cool manner.

She sighed in relief. " What is it, Li-kun? I'm going to be late for my Government class," said Sakura, shifting Hotaru onto her right hip while trying to keep the baby bag on her shoulder.

He stuck out his hand, turning his head to examine a blank wall, obviously trying to think of what to say. " Hand me the baby bag. I figure since we're going to the same class, it couldn't hurt to help out, with you carrying the baby and all."

A look of shock briefly crossed Sakura's face before she realized that she was going to be late-- again. " Uh.. Sure! But we have to hurry. Class starts in a few minutes."

She slid the lavender-colored bag off her shoulder and quickly tossed it to Syaoran. The two hastily headed out the door and ended up breaking out into a run down the stairs to the second floor and sliding to a stop before their seventh period Government class.

Slightly panting, Syaoran slid open the door and allowed Sakura to walk through first. He gave her the bag and slipped into a desk close to his friends and Sakura did the same, except she kept the bag.

The signal for class to start rang in it's lovely way and the students counted down, mentally, as theydreadfully awaited their sensei's entrance.

_3..2..1..Hello, my wonderful students!_

" Hello, my wonderful students!"

The door slid open to reveal a plump looking silhouette, dark against the bright sunlight from the hallway windows. A lady of roughly 50 years walked grandly over to the wooden desk every teacher was given..or lent, rather, for the school year, with the extra fabric of a flowy dress trailing behind her.

" Hello, Iwabashi-sensei. How are you this glorious day?" the students replied monotonously.

This was, sadly, Iwabashi-sensei's idea of the perfect greeting that would brighten anyone's day. But this was clearly not the case with the poor students who were forced to go through this day after day after day.

And so it was. Iwabashi-sensei went on with her lesson on the Japanese legislature with many interruptions from babies who weren't very happy with having to sit still for such a long time while listening to an overly eccentric old lady.

Every once in a while, Syaoran would glance over at Sakura and Hotaru to make sure things were going okay and, unsurprisingly, they were. Hotaru hardly made a peep throughout the entire lesson and when left to do their classwork, she sat in Sakura's lap and didn't disturb her once.

Though this was a bit strange to Syaoran, he dismissed the thought. As long as he passed home ec., what was there to worry about, right?

* * *

At the end of the day, all the students who had Sachiko-sensei in the evening waited outside for the real parents to come pick up the baby. One by one, the babies were reunited with their mommys and daddys.

Soon, only Sakura and Syaoran and Eriol were left standing in the courtyard. Eriol joined the two and they managed to get a little conversation going before a red, Honda Civic pulled up and the door opened.

The three held their breaths, hoping whoever was coming out of the car was their baby's mother.

A woman in her early thirties walked up the sidewalk and held her arms out as Eriol's baby cried out, reaching for the woman. He handed the woman the baby and ran off to get his bike. The lady was gone by the time he came back.

After Eriol left, they waited..and waited...and waited until they couldn't wait anymore. The sky was beginning to turn a light orange when Sakura decided to do something about the waiting. She gently gave Syaoran the sleeping baby and ran inside the school building and headed for the office.

Once inside the office, she managed to get the attention of the very lazy secretary. " Ano..Did anyone call regarding a baby by the name of Sakamoto Hotaru?" she asked in one breath.

Though it took her a minute to process was Sakura had asked and to look at the messages she took, she finally nodded. " Yeah. Some lady called and said she was taking a vacation in California and that she's going to be gone for the extent of the project you all are doing."

" She's WHERE?" Right then, Sakura lost it. She went on rambling about responsibility and love for children and everything else she could think of that pertained to the subject. Then she calmed down and asked for the lady's number and left.

* * *

" She's gone."

" Who?" asked Syaoran, who was still holding the little human being.

" Hotaru's mother. She's on vacation. Apparently, she thought it was a take home thing so she went and thought she could take off to California for 2 months and leave _her_ child with us," Sakura explained, irritation evident in her tone.

" So what are we supposed to do?"

" What else _can_ we do? We'll have to take turns taking her home.."

* * *

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **What do you think? Please review with anything. Criticism, critiques, anything. Since school's starting soon, I don't know if I'll be able to get the chapters out as quickly as I want to..I'm sorry the paragraphs are so short. I hope this was long enough for you all. _

_Oh and thanks to all my reviewers! _

_blue-azn-rain_


	4. Chapter 4

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Thanks everyone for your encouraging reviews. I promise this will be worth the while. _

_Also, since school just started, I'm a late updating..._

_Summary..._Kinomoto Sakura is your average high school senior. She studies, has a job, friends and is a part of a few clubs. Li Syaoran is your typical high school jock. He works out, talks big, and has girls on his mind all the time. They've known each other for as long as they can remember but have never bothered to speak a word to each other. But then...what? Read on, dear reader.

_Recap: "She's gone."_

"_Who?" asked Syaoran, who was still holding the little human being._

_" Hotaru's mother. She's on vacation. Apparently, she thought it was a take home thing so she went and thought she could take off to California for 2 months and leave her child with us," Sakura explained, irritation evident in her tone. _

_" So what are we supposed to do?"_

_" What else can we do? We'll have to take turns taking her home.."_

**A Sense of Family Life  
****Chapter 4**

"Tadaima! (I'm home!)"

A tired Sakura walked through the front door, carrying a sleeping Hotaru in her arms. Once inside, she flicked on the light, revealing an empty living room. Sighing, she gently pushed the door close with her foot and kicked off her shoes.

When no one answered, she strode over to the door separating the kitchen and living room and poked her head into the kitchen only to see that this room as well as the dining room was empty. She wandered through the entire house, but found that she was alone and had greeted no one upon entering her humble abode.

Quietly, she hopped up the carpeted stairs, making sure not to hop too much as to not wake the sleeping babe. At the top of the stairs, she turned on the hallway light and brought the baby to her room at the end of the hall.

Carefully she placed Hotaru in the middle of her queen sized bed with light green bedding. Hotaru stirred and Sakura held her breath, hoping she would stay asleep -- and she did. She exhaled and switched her desk lamp onto a dimmer setting.

Sitting down on her bed, she looked around her room. The walls were a light pink with random light green stripes. Her bed was placed in a slightly diagonal position in the far left corner of her room. Her cherry wood desk was located on the wall opposite the window with papers and books neatly organized on the shelves. A flat panel Dell desktop with Intel centurion processing sat on the clean desk top. Framed photographs and sketches were placed on the top shelf.

On the wall somewhat opposite her bed was her uncluttered closet as well as a simple corkboard with memos and pictures thumb tacked to it. A small dresser stood under the board.

The young beauty resisted the urge to lie back on her bed, because doing so would squish the baby. She let out a sigh and went over to the dresser under the board to pull out some sleepwear. She grabbed a pair of pink shorts and a big black shirt along with her undergarments, of course.

She tip-toed out of her room and trudged down the hall to the turquoise and dark blue restroom. She quickly locked the door and began to slip out of her uniform. Then she stepped into the tub and pulled the curtain while turning the warm water on. Lukewarm water fell down upon her slightly tan skin.

As the water cleansed her body, her thoughts swirled in her mind.

_What am I going to do with a baby? ... I hope Li and I will be able to handle this..._

**Meanwhile...**

Syaoran fell back on his black bed in his forest green room. Around him was a fairly clean room. There weren't many clothes on the floor save for a jacket and jeans here and there. His room was simple with a black and white desk on the far wall under the window and a white dresser a few feet away from it. On the far left wall was his black bed with trophies, medals, and plaques displayed on a shelf above his bed. Near the wall opposite the window lay four bean bag chairs in a pile.

He let out an exasperated sigh as he tossed his soccer ball into the air and caught it again. He scanned his brain for every excuse possible to avoid taking care of the kid. Sure, he loved children. He had tons of nephews and nieces, but this was completely different then a babysitting for a weekend. Hotaru would be his 'baby' for practically a month!

_Meh... Maybe we'll get lucky and the mom will come back soon. .. Yeah right. _

"Argh!"

He rolled onto his stomach and decided to take a nice long nap before his hyperactive sisters came home and began babying him.

**Next Day...**

Sakura woke up to the crying of a certain baby. Groaning, she turned to face the wailing infant.

"How in the world am I going to sneak you out of the house _now_, Hotaru-chan?" she sighed. Still half asleep, she picked up Hotaru and got out of bed, without managing to fall over. She stumbled around the room in a sad attempt to rock the baby back to sleep.

After a while, she heard a slight knock on her door. She mumbled something, apparently allowing the knocker to come in.

"What's going on, sweetheart?" a woman with long brown hair and soft brown eyes asked.

Sakura had her back towards the lady and laughed nervously. "Oh, nothing. You must be hearing things, Okaa-san. You should go back to sleep. Don't you have to plan a party today?" (Her mother is a special event planner.)

The lady, now identified as her mother shook her head and closed in on Sakura. "What have you there, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura froze, barely breathing, hoping the baby wouldn't make a noise... but then she did the "goo-goo gaga" thing. She laughed at herself mentally. _What am I supposed to say when she asks me what that was? 'Oh, I was just practicing some baby sounds for drama...' I don't even _take_ drama!_

After the short conversation with herself, she decided to expose Hotaru. She turned around and showed her mother the baby in her arms. When she heard her mom gasped, she quickly explained that she had to help take care of the baby until the irresponsible mother returned home and that Syaoran was helping.

"Well, why didn't you just tell me? I'd love to help you out, sweetie. Just make sure to tell your brother the moment he comes home for the week or else he'll pop a vein and kill every guy he makes contact with," she advised with a smile.

Sakura simply nodded.

**School...**

That day, Sakura's mother took her to school, so Sakura wouldn't have to carry everything while walking to school. As soon as she stepped out of the car, she noticed a lone figure, standing in the shade of a nearby cherry blossom tree.

Recognizing the figure as Syaoran, she calmly walked over to him, careful to not wake the baby in her arms.

"So how was she?" Syaoran asked taking the small baby into his fairly muscular arms.

"She slept most of the night so you should be okay--until about five in the morning," she added with a laugh.

"Great... An assignment _and_ alarm clock," he mumbled.

* * *

_I apologize times 100 for the lateness of this chapter. I'm also sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I know my excuses don't mean anything, but I've been busy since school started so please forgive me. I'll _try_ to hurry with the next chapter. _

_**Thanks a lot to everyone who is still reading this story! Your support is much appreciated!**_

_blue-azn-rain_


	5. Chapter 5

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE: _**_Greetings, minna-san! I will be extremely surprised if anyone is still reading this but if you are, you have my deepest appreciation. I really am doing all of you a great injustice by waiting 5 years to update this story but high school really didn't allow me much writing time or any creative juices. However, I am now a college student and hopefully, I'll be able to finish this soon. **Please don't expect my writing abilities to have improved drastically since the last chapter __J _

_Summary..._Kinomoto Sakura is your average high school senior. She studies, has a job, friends and is a part of a few clubs. Li Syaoran is your typical high school jock. He works out, talks big, and has girls on his mind all the time. They've known each other for as long as they can remember but have never bothered to speak a word to each other. But then...what? Read on, dear reader.

_Recap:_

_"So how was she?" Syaoran asked taking the small baby into his fairly muscular arms._

_"She slept most of the night so you should be okay-until about five in the morning," she added with a laugh._

_"Great... An assignment _and_ alarm clock," he mumbled._

**A Sense of Family Life**

**Chapter 5**

Syaoran cared for the tiny tot for the first part of the day until the pair met up in home economics. By his second period of the day, baby Hotaru had awoken from her midmorning nap and was itching for playtime. He spent most of his class time chasing after the quick and slippery baby. The only redeeming factor might have been the fact that Hotaru was a babe magnet, until he had to change her diaper. Indeed, he was more than thankful for Sakura to arrive to take the baby off his hands.

"Hey," he greeted her as he took his seat beside her, relieved.

" Well, hey there, cutie!" she replied, in an unusually happy voice.

_Cutie? What is she talking about? _he thought, utterly confused. Clarity was reached when he saw her reach out for the baby. _Of course. Duh._

He handed her the baby and dramatically collapsed onto the desk. How in the world did his parents deal with 5 kids? Oh yeah, they never had to bring them to school.

"So," Sakura began, "I'll take care of her for the rest of the school day but you have to take her home after school."

"What? No can do, Kinomoto. I've got soccer practice. I can't bring that thing with me. I-"

"First of all, _she's _not 'that thing,' Li-kun. Second of all, need I remind you who took her home last night? Let me give you a hint: It wasn't you." She punctuated the sentence with a you-have-no-choice kind of glare.

Of course, that didn't matter to Syaoran.

"Yeah, because you have nothing better to do with your time. My time is valuable, Kinomoto. I have to lead our team to the championship!"

"And I have things to plan. I'm vice-president of the student council and chair of the social committee. Not only do _I _have a meeting today but the winter gala is coming soon as well. What are you going to do if you can't strut around like the peacock you are at the gala because there _isn't_ one because you wanted to be selfish, hm? Answer me that, oh Great Soccer Captain!"

By this time, both were standing, Sakura had just yelled out her last line, and Hotaru was crying. Needless to say, the whole class was staring amidst the wailings of the other babies.

"How dare you speak like that to Syaoran-kun, you nobody!" Mei Lin shouted, causing all heads to shift towards her.

Before Sakura could answer, Sachiko-sensei interrupted.

"Well it looks like we've got ourselves a small lovers' quarrel going on," she said, smiling. "Let's let them handle it, everyone. Sakura-chan, Li-kun, please take your seats and we'll begin with our lesson today."

"Lesson?" the class asked, unbelievingly.

"Well you didn't think I'd give you babies and let the babies fend for themselves, did I?" Turning to the chalkboard, she continued, "Today's lesson is: How to Stop the Crying."

As Sachiko-sensei began the lesson, Syaoran whispered to Sakura, "Great! Thanks for making us look like fools, Kinomoto."

"Oh, no. I believe that was all you, my friend. If you had simply agreed to take Hotaru, none of that would have happened."

"Whatever! Just take the baby!"

"Do you have dirt in your ears? I said I have a meeting!"

"And I have soccer practice!"

"Yeah, but you can miss yours. I-"

"You can take her to your meeting! What's so hard about that? Y-"

"I won't get _anything_ done if I'm trying to take care of her! Goodness! You're such a turd!"

"Me? How dare you call me that! UGH! We're never going to get anything done."

The two sat quietly for a moment, mulling over any and all possible solutions. Minutes passed. All the while, Hotaru, who had finally been soothed following the yelling explosion, played with a little rubber ducky and periodically looked at either 'parent.'

Finally, a few minutes before the next class was to start, Sakura had a plan.

"I've got it!" she whispered to him.

"What?"

"You take her for the rest of the day. Then-"

"What? No-"

"Will you listen?" she scolded, giving him a slap to the back of the head. "Good grief. You take her for the rest of the day. I'll take her right before your beloved soccer practice. Give me a call once you're done. Then you can pick her up from wherever I am."

"Hm. I think-"

"I didn't ask you what you thought. It's the plan. So," she handed him the baby just as the bell rang, "here. And I'll take the baby bag."

"Fine," Syaoran mumbled, as he picked up Hotaru and the two parents headed towards Government.

**After school…**

The two met up as planned after school for the handoff. As soon as Hotaru was securely in Sakura's arms, Syaoran dashed off to the soccer field. Sakura looked into Hotaru's shining gray eyes with her tired emerald orbs.

_I hope you're ready for a nap, sweetie. _

She walked back towards the school and headed to the student council "headquarters," which was really just a third-year homeroom with tables arranged in a U-shape and a desk for the president at the opening of the U. Naturally, the meeting was already proceeding and Sakura quietly took her seat on the right side of the president. She sat Hotaru in her lap and focused her attentions on the matters at hand.

Matters of graffiti and vandalism were addressed by the public appearance council. Fundraising ideas were pitched by the treasurer and fundraising committee. Ideas were promptly decided upon. Issues of sports equipment were raised by the athletic ambassadors. Surprisingly, and to Sakura's relief, Hotaru remained relatively quiet and occupied during all of this. Finally, it came time to discuss the winter gala. Just as Sakura opened her mouth to speak, Hotaru suddenly decided to become fussy, much to Sakura's dismay.

_Oh no, no, no, no! Not now!_

She apologized, as she scrambled to quiet Hotaru. She gave her another toy, but that didn't work. Neither did the pacifier. Milk? She drank but she was still fussy.

_Dang it. What was sensei saying today about how to stop babies from crying? Gah! Stupid Li! I would have been paying attention if it weren't for him. Think, think, think…._

"_Sometimes they just want to be held…"_

_That's it!_

Gently, Sakura whisked Hotaru into her arms and began walking around the room, rocking Hotaru back and forth.

"Now, let's get back to business…" she exclaimed with a smile.

After the student council meeting, the social committee remained behind to further discuss the details of when, where, and how the winter gala would happen. Hotaru had finally fallen asleep and was in a nice little cocoon on one of the tables. The committee members spoke in hushed voices and began detailing the gala.

**All the while…**

"Come on, men!" shouted Syaoran as the soccer team ran their drills. "My sisters can run faster than you guys!"

The athletic young man ran backwards in front of the exhausted team. Their practice consisted of intense warm-ups that caused at least one person to faint, practice scrimmages that often resulted in at least one person bleeding profusely, and more drills which usually ended the day with 15 over exhausted young men, sprawled on the field.

"You'd think you all would be used to it by now!" Syaoran would often exclaim at the end of a practice.

Indeed, they were so used to it that everyone had his own spot on the field on which he'd faint. Amazingly, while Syaoran did every single drill and warm-up with them, he was rarely ever tired.

"Where does he get all that energy?" wheezed the team, as they struggled for breath.

**After all is said and done…**

The clock struck seven by the time Syaoran had finished with practice. He reached for his phone to call Sakura but realized he didn't have her number. Naturally, before now, there was no reason for him to have her number.

_Maybe she's still at school. But what would she be doing at school at this hour? Hm…_

He decided to check anyway and headed into the school. He wandered the halls of the empty school, the sound of his slippers sliding across the floor, until he realized he didn't know where the student council met.

_Great._

After twenty minutes of wandering, he finally found the right room. What he found on the other side of the door, however, was far from what he expected. Sliding open the door, his eyes fell upon a slender figure laying on top of the desks, with papers strewn all over. He could tell from the steady rise and fall of the figure's chest that she was sleeping. He walked quietly into the room for a closer look. Upon further inspection, he realized the sleeping figure was none other than Sakura. In her hand she clenched what seemed to be the outline of the winter gala. By her side, cradled in her left arm, rested a tiny bundle, with her thumb in her mouth.

For some strange reason beyond his own comprehension, a smile crept onto his face and he regretted having to wake them up.

_She's not so bad when she's not talking._

Syaoran stepped closer, raising his hand to shake Sakura awake. Right as he was about to wake her, the last bit of orange sunlight faded as the sun set below the horizon, highlighting her soft features, her face an image of ethereal beauty. It seemed wrong to wake her, but there was no way he could carry both people without waking them up.

He gave her shoulder a gentle shake.

"Hey, Kinomoto. Wake up, will you?" he whispered.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open and a slight groan escaped her lips. Syaoran came into her line of sight and a puzzled look crossed her face. Looking to her left, her saw the little figure and understanding took the place of confusion.

"What time is it?" Sakura whispered.

"A little after seven. Looks like you knocked out."

"Mm. And it smells you like stink. Good grief, man. What did you do? Take a bath in sweat?" she said with a scrunched nose.

"You _are_ better when you're sleeping," he mumbled, backing away as she rolled off the tables.

After a brief stretch, Sakura cleared the tables and gathered her papers, allowing Syaoran to pick up Hotaru.

"Take good care of her, hm?"

"Of course. I'm not an idiot," he replied defiantly.

"Says you," she laughed, walking out the classroom. "See you tomorrow."

**At the Kinomoto household  
**

"I'm home," Sakura announced as she walked through the door.

"Oh, hi, sweetie," greeted her mother, who had stuck her head out from the kitchen. "You've been at school for a while now. We've been waiting."

"Okaa-san, I told you before to eat without me if I'm not home by dinner time," she replied, walking into the kitchen.

"I know, I know. But I'm your mother, dear. I'm not supposed to listen to you," her mother said with a smile. "Besides, it's not often I get to make it home before you."

As Sakura and her mother prepared the table, a tall, broad-shouldered man entered the kitchen.

"Ah, Sakura," he greeted, "where's the baby?"

"You told, Otou-san?" she asked her mother.

"Of course, dear. Your father has to know if you've got a baby on your hands."

With a great sigh, Sakura set out the chopsticks. "She's with the father."

"Oh, that's nice."

**At the Li household  
**

_Do I sneak you in or do I display you loud and proud, little baby? This could go either way. If I hide you, there's no fuss - unless _they_ find you. Then the assumptions never end. If I just come out and introduce you, I can avoid the assumptions but the fuss will never cease. Hmm…_

Syaoran continued standing outside his house for another 10 minutes, debating the pros and cons of either decision. Unfortunately, before he could choose, the front door opened and a stream of bright light shined upon the two figures in the dark.

"Hey there, little brother! Whatcha got there?" called out his oldest sister.

"Oh, you know, just a baby," he replied, as he walked towards his doom.

He spent the rest of the evening relaying all that had happened in the past two days, with many interruptions from each sister and the occasional question from his mother. Eventually, amongst all the noise and ruckus caused by his siblings, Hotaru awoke, creating another wave of noise and chaos as the girls attacked Hotaru in all her cuteness.

_This is going to be a nightmare. _

_

* * *

Dear, readers! I hope this has met your standards for me! Indeed, I am terribly sorry for making you wait nearly 5 years for this chapter. I am determined to finish this story within the semester. Your reviews and support are deeply and greatly appreciated. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. _

_blue_azn_rain_


	6. Chapter 6

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**__ Thank you once again everyone for the kind reviews. As promised, I'm trying my best to be expeditious to upload often for you guys. I hope this chapter is a good follow-up to the last one :)_

**A Sense of Family Life**

**Chapter 6**

So it continued, for the remainder of the week, the two managed to successfully alternate between caring for the baby during the day and taking her home for the night. Due to some major events in Syaoran's life, Syaoran agreed to take Hotaru for both Tuesday and Wednesday but desperately needed her to take her on Thursday and Friday. No big deal - or so she thought.

Friday came and it was Sakura's turn to take home Hotaru again. Unfortunately, this raised the issue of many problems that she had failed to consider: would she have her the entire weekend? Can she really take care of a baby for an entire weekend? What is her brother going to think? Who is going to provide the weekend's baby supplies (during the week, Sachiko-sensei gave them extra provisions)? Further, will _she_, Sakura, survive?

She shook her head to clear her mind. She had a few hours to think of something before the baby was hers again.

As usual, Sakura met Syaoran in front of the school. Today, however, she was not her usual cool self. Her auburn locks, normally neatly brushed down her back, were pulled back into a messy ponytail, and dark bags were beginning to form underneath her eyes. Her usually ironed and pressed uniform was wrinkled and her jacket was even on backwards. Even on her worst and most rushed days she never looked like this.

Syaoran, upon seeing her, was not sure whether to laugh or feel depressed. Was it because of the baby? Surely not. The first two days for her were perfectly fine. Why is there such a drastic - and slightly horrifying - change? Maybe she had a test she pulled an all-nighter for. Yeah. That must be it. No baby can do this to someone. And even though he rarely spoke to Sakura before this assignment, he'd seen her often enough to know that she always made sure to look decent in public.

"Uh, are you okay?" Syaoran asked cautiously, positioning Hotaru in his arm.

The ghostly version of Sakura shook her head and floated towards the lockers. "She cried half the night…No mercy… Kill mother…" she mumbled as she changed into her school slippers.

"No way! She's been fine these past few days, though. Why would she start being fussy now? Did you try feeding her? Holding her? Diaper?"

The defeated pseudo-mother only nodded, unable to give any real answer. Then suddenly, it occurred to her.

"Actually, she cried all morning, even in the car…But the closer we got to the school, the less she was crying. Then she stopped altogether when she saw…you." It further dawned on her. "She likes you better!" she exclaimed, pointing at Syaoran. "Ergo, you must keep her the entire weekend!" Unfortunately, at this point, Sakura became hysterical and had to sit down against the lockers to calm herself.

Syaoran stood awkwardly by as Sakura sat with her head between her knees, breathing and hiccupping. Students began to crowd into the locker room and a few began to stare. Quite a few girls tried to approach Syaoran, but quickly backed away when they saw the lump on the ground that was Sakura.

"Hey, Kinomoto. Get up, will you? Quit making a scene. It-"

"I will make a scene IF I WANT TO! So, JUST TAKE THE BABY AND LEAVE. ME. ALONE!" she cried, dashing to the restroom.

**Later that day **

Sakura entered the home economics classroom, looking more distraught and disheveled than she did in the morning, and trudged over towards her "home." Syaoran, who was flirtatiously conversing with a rather well-endowed "mother," became speechless. Taking her seat, Sakura heavily rested her head upon the table.

"Geez, Kinomoto. It's been 3 hours. How could you have gotten any worse? I'm the one with the baby, anyhow."

"You don't want to know, Li," she moaned, her voice muffled by her arms.

"Oh, it can't be _that_ ba-" Syaoran cut his sentence short when Sakura turned her head and shot him a glare full of daggers. "Never mind," he mumbled.

For the remainder of the period, Sakura napped and Syaoran did his best to keep baby Hotaru occupied and out of Sakura's hair, all the while, impressing the ladies with tales and plans of future domination at the championship soccer tournament.

Of course, while Syaoran was busy occupying all the ladies in the room, the other "fathers" were frantically quelling their babies. Needless to say, the room was in an uproar, as usual. However, as he flirted with the mass of girls, he couldn't help but have a nagging feeling, telling him he should do something about Sakura. He briefly excused himself and turned to Sakura, raising his hand to her back to rub it soothingly.

Before he could be of any comfort, however, Mei Lin popped up in between them, drawing his attention away from the damsel in distress.

Sighing, he addressed her, "Yes, Mei Lin?"

"Syaoran-kun, will you be free this weekend? Mother said we're taking a family trip to the countryside for a mini-vacation. I'm sure it includes you, too," she replied, her voice dripping in sugar.

"Probably not, Mei Lin. Besides, Kinomoto and I still haven't figured out what we're doing with this baby for the weekend. Just go have fun without me, huh?" Syaoran flippantly replied.

Mei Lin, used to Syaoran's dismissive attitudes, was not phased. However, hearing Sakura's name as a reason for his dismissiveness struck her like an arrow. That Syaoran would have another woman in his life was unacceptable to her. Sure he was captain of the soccer team and the most popular guy in school. Sure he receive plenty of confessions yearly. But she knew that deep in Syaoran's heart, there was only room for her. Of course, he's been busy preparing for the tournament but that didn't mean he was neglecting her. Never. That was his duty. But the fact that he couldn't go with her this weekend because of this Kinomoto girl was nearly deplorable!

"Syao-kun, you don't mean to say that this girl is keeping you from coming with me, do you? I mean, you always go with us. You can't just not go because of her, Syao-kun. You can't!" she cried, clinging onto his arm while bumping Sakura off her seat. "If you don't go, then I'm not going either!"

Sakura, who was now on the ground, debated with herself whether she should get up or just stay down and surrender to the pain. She still hadn't figured out a plan but there was no way she could take the baby home tonight. Not only is Touya coming home but she got all of two hours of sleep the night before.

_Why is the child crying so much? She's not a newborn. She's a year old already, for goodness' sake. Mother Nature is not helping much either. It's never this bad. Why now?_

A sharp pain filled her abdomen and she doubled over while still on the ground, curling herself into the fetal position. She clenched her teeth to keep from crying out loud. Still, a slight groan escaped her.

Hearing the noise, Syaoran looked over, past the clinging Mei Lin and saw that Sakura was no longer there. At the same time, Hotaru began crying and reach over past the crimson-eyed girl.

"What is it, Hotaru-chan?" Syaoran asked, softly and almost fatherly, resulting in a chorus of "aw" from the girls, who still remained. Little Hotaru made some grumbling noises and continued reaching for something beyond Mei Lin. "You looking for Kinomoto?" Surprisingly, Hotaru looked up at him and gave a grunt of confirmation.

Syaoran stood up and, pulling his arm away from Mei Lin, who was becoming more displeased by the second, walked around to the other side of the desk to find Sakura still curled on the floor, holding her stomach. Alarmed, Syaoran knelt down on one knee, setting Hotaru, now quiet, on the raised knee, and pulled Sakura up into a sitting position.

"You okay, Kinomoto?" he asked.

"The floor's not that bad, you know?" Sakura mumbled, as she began to topple over.

Syaoran caught her and, slipping his right arm underneath both of hers and around her waist, he lifted her up, all the while still holding Hotaru. Turning to Sachiko-sensei, he asked for permission to take her to the nurse's office.

"Today is a full role-play day. By all means, take your wife to the hospital if she needs it," she replied with a smile.

"Thank you," he said, without fully realizing what she'd said and led a pained Sakura out.

**The Nurse's Office**

"Hi, Megumi-san," Syaoran greeted as he slid open the door. "Something's wrong with Kinomoto here."

A young female nurse looked up from her paperwork. With her long blond hair and blue eyes, Megumi was often the recipient of many love confessions from the residing male students. To Syaoran, however, she was once the recipient of many of his hugs and kisses - as his babysitter.

"Ah, Syaoran-kun. It's been a while," she smiled but became serious as she noticed the ghostly and beaten condition of Sakura.

She led him to an area near the back surrounded by curtains, one of the 3 "rooms" in the clinic, helped him lay Sakura on the bed, and told him to wait in the main area.

He followed Megumi's instructions and sat and waited, passing the time by bouncing a giggling Hotaru on his lap. "Why does such a good baby have such a horrible mother?" he asked her, in a rather high and slightly embarrassing pitch, even to himself.

After about ten minutes, Megumi returned from the back with a diagnosis.

"She's on her period."

Syaoran, who was not ready for such blatant news, turned a slight shade of pink. 'Period' was a sort of taboo word. None of the girls he had dated were ever allowed to go that personal. After all, he wasn't their husband.

Clearing his throat, he asked, "Did you really have to tell me that, Megumi-san? That's kind of personal, isn't it?"

"Personal?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "You guys have a baby. I figured there wasn't anything that was considered personal anymore."

"What are you…oh…wait! NO! What? N-N-N-NO! It's a class assignment! It's like..like.. babysitting!" Syaoran stammered, turning a deeper red. Why was he blushing? There's nothing embarrassing about this. It's the truth. So why was he blushing?

"Ah, you must be in Sachiko-chan's class. Well, for the time being, then, you're kind of husband and wife so you need to know these things. In any case, it looks like stress is making it worse than normal. Do you know if there's anything unusually stressful happening lately?"

"Well, Hotaru, I guess - that's the baby - and she keeps going on about this winter gala stuff," Syaoran replied.

"Well, that makes sense. Help her out a little more and she should be fine. You can go back and see her if you'd like," Megumi added as she returned to her paperwork.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

Arriving in the back, he found Sakura neatly tucked into bed underneath the sheets. For the first time all day, she looked peaceful. He brushed away a few hairs from her face and as he pulled his hand away, the sleeping beauty grabbed his hand and held on, forcing Syaoran to take seat beside her bed. Unsure of what to do and afraid of waking her, he sat and waited for her to let go. But she never did. Eventually, Hotaru fell asleep as well.

_So much for my afternoon. _

**In the next period - elsewhere**

Before the beginning of class, the boys gathered together in their usual corner to discuss "news."

"So, what about that Kinomoto-san?" began one boy. "I was thinking of sending her a confession."

"What? No way, man. She's too smart for you. Too pretty on her good days, too. No way she'd say yes," replied another.

"Very true, indeed," added an extra voice. However, this voice belonged to a girl. Daidouji Tomoyo, to be exact.

The boys, shocked, scattered, leaving the boy who liked Sakura by himself.

"Daidouji-san! Ah-ha-ha…W-w-what brings you here?" he stammered.

"Well, I was going to surprise Sakura-chan but she doesn't seem to be here, today, and since you were so kindly talking about her, I was wondering if you knew of her whereabouts," she smiled, causing the boy to blush.

"Last I saw, Syaoran was taking her to the infirmary."

"Infirmary?" she gasped. "Is she okay?" she asked, shaking the boy by his shoulders, who only managed to answer with a nod. "I must go see her," she resolved.

"Tomoyo-san!" cried another male voice. "You're finally back!"

Turning around, Tomoyo saw Eriol, covered in baby spit, rocking a wailing baby back and forth.

"Oh, Eriol-kun. Um…" Slowly backing out the door, she replied, "I'll give you a call later, mkay? Bye!"

"NOOOO!~"

**Back at the Infirmary**

"Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo whispered, sliding open the door to the clinic.

"She's in the back, Tomoyo-chan. It's that time of the month," Megumi whispered back.

Tomoyo nodded understanding and walked quietly back to Sakura's room and the sight she beheld was a rather pleasing one to her.

Sakura still lay peacefully in the bed and Syaoran still sat beside her, but now, he, too, was asleep in the chair. Their hands were still together and Hotaru sat sleeping against Syaoran's chest.

Stealthily, she pulled out her camera and snapped a photo. _Good blackmailing material,_ she thought, smiling. She quietly wrote a little note and left it with Megumi as she left to return to the classroom.

**Later that afternoon**

Sakura finally awoke as the last bell of the day rang. She groggily raised her hand to rub her eyes but found it was intertwined with another. Following the hand, she found the owner. With wide, surprised eyes, she gently removed her hand and sat up. She climbed out of the bed and tiptoed over to Megumi.

"Megumi-sensei, what am I doing here?" she whispered.

Megumi explained all that had happened and handed her the note left to her by Tomoyo.

_Hey there, Sleepy Head!_

_I'm home! I'll stop by after dinner. See you then!_

_Tomo_

"Thank you, Megumi-sensei. I guess I'll wake Li. He'll want to go to soccer practice," she said, slightly dazed at how things transpired.

There was no need for that, however, for just as she finished speaking, Syaoran, hair unusually disheveled, came out from the back room.

"Why does your hair look like that?" she asked, blatantly. If she remembered correctly, he slept sitting in a chair.

Syaoran answered by simply holding out Hotaru at arms length. "She woke up and started climbing all over me."

"Well that's nice," she replied with a small smile. "I guess I'll take her for the night and we can think about the rest tomorrow," she started, reaching for the baby.

"Actually, I think I'll take her for the weekend. She'll give me an excuse to stay home and away from Mei Lin for a few days," he said, pulling Hotaru towards his chest.

Surprised, Sakura stood speechless, with her mouth open. "Oh….um, okay. Cool. I'll get going then. My shift starts in about an hour. Thanks Li. Bye, Hotaru-chan." She gave Hotaru a kiss and left.

As she walked out the door, her scent lingered on him. He took a deep breath and breathed it all in. _Cherry blossoms. Predictable_, he thought, as a smile crept onto his face - that is, until he realized just what he'd just done.

_Dang._

* * *

_Alrighty, minna, I hope this was good! Please, let me know if there's anything that sounds weird or doesn't make sense. If you have any questions, comments (good or bad), feel free to write a review. Thank you all SO much for your continued support! _

_blue_azn_rain  
_


	7. Chapter 7

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm sorry it's taken longer than expected guys. Exams came up and, well, you know how that is. I tried really hard to make this a pretty long chapter. Unfortunately, as you will see, it's pretty much one night. Please let me know if the story is going too slowly. I'm really going to try to speed it up in the next few chapters. Until then, enjoy (:_

**Sense of Family Life**

**Chapter 7**

**That same day…**

"Sakura-chan! Table 19 needs to be cleared!"

"On it!"

"Sakura-chan! Can you ring this couple up, please?"

"Mkay!"

"Sakura-chaaa~an! The front!"

"Hi! Welcome to the Happy Kitty Café."

Sakura greeted the happy patrons in skinny black pants and a slim-fitting black dress shirt, topped off with a big red bow around her neck and cat ears. Her hair, which was disheveled this morning, was tied back in a neat high ponytail. The dark circles under her eyes were gone and a slight blush colored her cheeks. This was the state in which she greeted her current customers.

"Kinomoto?"

A surprised Syaoran stood before her with a gaping mouth. He always knew Sakura worked; his parents were always saying how good it was for a girl to be able to support herself, with Sakura being the example. But he never expected her to work in a cosplay-like café. A babysitter, tutor, housekeeper, maybe, but never this. In fact, he was sure what to think at the current moment. It was undeniable, even to him, that she looked very cute, but it was also undeniable that the whole situation of the headstrong girl working at a kitty café was hilarious. And it was on this latter fact which he acted upon.

"BWAHAHAHA! What in the world are you doing, Kinomoto? Meow, meow? HAHAH!"

As he was holding little Hotaru and as she was working, Sakura was unable to react and shut him up. Indeed, all she was able to do was grit her teeth and fight through the evening.

"Ahem, welcome to the Happy Kitty Café. How many will be in your party this evening, sir, meow?" she asked stiffly.

"Just three," he replied, still laughing.

"Right this way, please."

"So this is where you work? Are you like those maid cafés? Aren't you going to call me Master? Hahaha! This is good, Kinomoto. Just when you couldn't get anymore interesting," he shook his head at the comedy of it all as he sat down.

"We are the Happy _Kitty_ Café, sir. This is our normal uniform," she replied, thoroughly annoyed. _I'll never hear the end of this. _"What can I get for you, meow?"

"I'll have the triple chocolate mocha latte with the strawberry cake," Mei-Lin, who had remained quiet upon entering the café, answered, clearly annoyed herself,

"And you, sir?"

"What, no 'meow'?"

_This is going to be a loonngg night. _"Ahem, and you, sir, meow?"

**That evening, closing time..**

Finally, Sakura was able to flip the sign in the door to "Closed" and began wiping down the last of the tables.

In the two years that she had been working at the café, Syaoran had never made an appearance. Why, then, the worst of all days, did he have to show up? Not only did he show up, he decided to be the worst customer of all time, making Sakura's life infinitely worse. He spilled his drink five times, ordered two different drinks, only to return them both because he'd changed his mind, and didn't even bother to leave a tip.

_Maybe I should ban him from the café,_ Sakura thought as she changed out of the uniform and washed her face of the make-up, revealing her pale cheeks and the dark circles under her eyes.

"I'm leaving! See you guys tomorrow!" A chorus of "Bye!"s answered her as he walked out the back door.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder. Screaming, she stomped down on the foot behind her and turned around to beat the culprit with her bag. Before she could do so, a familiar voice cried out.

"Wait! Wait! It's me! Li!"

Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was, indeed, the despicable Li, kneeling on the ground with a wailing baby in his arms.

She lowered her bag and squatted down. "What in the world do you think you're doing, you idiot? I could have hurt Hotaru! Are you crazy?"

"She won't stop crying, Kinomoto. It's nonstop. I don't even know how she has this much energy. She's been crying ever since we left the café. At first I thought she'd just tire out and go to sleep but she HASN'T! No one at home knows what's wrong. You're the only one who can help," he pleaded.

Sakura sighed and stared into his amber eyes. It was 10 o'clock on a Friday. Knowing him, he was probably missing out on several parties and instead of just leaving the baby at home with his mom, here he was, outside of the café, begging for help.

"Let me see," she said softly, holding out her hands.

Syaoran gladly handed over the distressed baby. As soon as Sakura was in Hotaru's eyesight, her crying ceased.

The two "parents" looked at each other, bewildered.

"No way! What did you do?" Syaoran asked, walking around Sakura so he could look at the baby.

"I have no idea. She was crying like crazy yesterday, too. Remember this morning? She stopped the moment she saw you. You don't think…" The two paused and stared at each other, each coming to the same conclusion.

"She wants both of us," Syaoran said.

"At the same time," whispered Sakura.

"What are we gonna do now, Kinomoto?" groaned Syaoran as they both stared at the giggling, babbling baby.

"I have no idea."

**Elsewhere**

Tomoyo lounged on the luxuriously plush sofa in her living room, flipping through her latest design book as Eriol sat on the ground beside her, hunched over the low coffee table, calculating the budget it would take to actually raise a child.

"25,000,000 YEN?" exclaimed Eriol.

"What's 25,000,000 yen, dear?"

"The cost of raising a child! That's unbelievable. Where-"

"Do you plan on having a baby anytime soon, Eriol-kun?" Tomoyo asked softly.

"Well, uh, no. I mean, in a few years, maybe, but no, not now," he answered, somewhat awkwardly.

"Well, I suggest you wait until you do plan to do so before you calculate all those numbers. You know how inflation goes, dear."

Eriol's eyes widened and his glasses slid down his nose. Slightly depressed at the thought, Eriol balled up the papers with all his calculations and tossed them into the fireplace. If a child was going to cost that much to raise, perhaps he should just stick to a pet rock.

He stood up and fell back onto the sofa at Tomoyo's feet. The two had been dating officially for almost a year now. She was the most beautiful woman in the world to him, with her long ebony hair and amethyst eyes, full of mystery and yet, to him an open book. He never knew what she was thinking, but he always could tell what she was feeling. She was the kindest, gentlest, most understanding creature under the sun, and he was the most awkward, bashful, and serious organism on the planet. And yet, they were the perfect couple.

He trusted Tomoyo enough to never have to be jealous when much more socially adept guys flirted with her and he was confident enough in himself to not be intimidated by her already successful career. She was grounded enough to bring him back down to earth when his ideas took him to outer space and simply loved him enough to put up with his crazy ideas for he was often the kind to experiment with more than just Mentos and soda bottles.

Eriol gazed lovingly at Tomoyo as she continued to flip through and make notes to herself about her recent designs.

"Hey, Tomo-chan?"

"Yes, Eriol-kun?"

"I love you."

She smiled. And that was all he needed.

**In front of the Li house**

"I hate you."

"Me? Why? I'm not the crazy mother who decided to leave her child with strangers for two months because she's CRAZY."

"That doesn't matter. I still hate you."

"Whatever, Kinomoto. Suck it up and let's get this over with."

After fifteen minutes of staring at the baby, the two had decided to, firstly, leave the alley, and secondly, be productive and think of a plan. They considered making dolls that resembled them, cardboard cutouts, image projections, and much more. All of those options, however, required much more work on their part than they cared to consider. Finally, in a stroke of somewhat genius, Syaoran proposed a plan that, while it was slightly uncomfortable, did not require too much by either party.

"She doesn't get cranky unless it's a pretty long absence, right? So, what if we just go to the other's house about an hour or so before her bedtime. With both of us there, she'll go to sleep happy and when we're sure she's sound asleep, the other will just leave and we can all go to sleep happy!"

Sakura gaped incredulously at Syaoran and, though she had a very smart comment to make, decided against it for it was actually a very good plan and because he seemed so proud of his idea.

And so there they were, in front of Syaoran's house. On the way to his house, it had occurred to Sakura that she would have to actually spend time at his house - most likely with him. Although she'd known him for years and had been to his house on several occasions when his parents hosted company parties, it was never anything intimate - not that this was _that_ kind of intimate, of course.

The two entered the house and were met by a wave a high-pitched hello's and coo's for the baby. Sakura awkwardly stood behind Syaoran as he herded his sisters away. When he was finally able to clear the hall, Sakura gently put Hotaru down on the floor and held her hand, guiding her into the living room on the left.

"Come on, sweetie. You can do it," she cooed.

As the two settled onto the couch in front of the large television, Syaoran entered the room, carrying Hotaru's baby bag filled with toys and her favorite blankie. He plopped himself down on the other side of Hotaru and turned the TV on as Sakura pulled out a few toys and set them in front of the babbling baby. Sakura curled her legs underneath her and gently guided Hotaru away from the edge of the sofa as she waved the stuffed bear spastically. Syaoran sprawled against the soft seat and changed the channel from wedding shows to an action movie he'd saved.

"So how long do you think it will take for her to get to sleep?" Sakura asked softly, playing with the little girl's hair.

Syaoran mumbled something along the lines of "I don't know" and sank deeper into the cushions.

Sakura looked at her watch. The time read 10:30. She had told her parents that she would try to be home by midnight. Surely, in an hour and a half Hotaru would become tired and fall asleep. Surely…

The clock tolled midnight and Sakura awoke, finding herself laying down on the sofa with a tiny body sound asleep on top of her and a blanket covering the both of them. The TV was still on and Syaoran was sitting on the ground beneath her, leaning against the sofa. From the way his head was nodding, she figured sleep was catching up to him as well.

She removed her arm from beneath the blanket and was about to wake him up before a gasp distracted her. In the doorway stood a wide-eyed Mei Lin. Sakura could see as she sucked in the air in preparation to scream. Panicked and afraid that the scream would wake the sleeping baby, Sakura pleadingly held a finger to her lips and quietly shushed.

"I can explain!" she whispered. She knocked Syaoran in the head and, before he too could yell, pointed at Mei Lin, who was holding her breath, ready to blow.

Syaoran silently jumped up and rushed Mei Lin out into the hallway to explain the situation, which, quite truthfully, Sakura didn't know herself.

Nevertheless, Sakura leaned back on the sofa and let out a sigh of relief. She looked down at the sleeping angel. _Look at all the trouble you've caused, little one. Just what are we going to do with you? _she thought, yawning.

She looked about her, not sure what to do. Tired as she was, her family - especially her brother - would be expecting her home soon. She couldn't stay here all night.

She chanced a glance into the hall to see an upset Mei Lin glare at her. Sakura continued watching as Syaoran finished his explanation. The Chinese beauty gave him a skeptical look but finally retreated back to her room. A relieved Syaoran turned back into the living room and walked over to lean on the back of the sofa.

"The beast has been quelled," he whispered humorously.

"That's good to hear," she replied with a smile, looking into his amber eyes. "Now what are we going to do with this one? I need to get home soon."

"My mom already took care of that. When she saw you sleeping earlier, she refused to let me wake you and called your parents. Mei Lin and my sisters have taken up all of the guestrooms but you can have my room and I'll take the couch," he offered.

Sakura stared up at him, unsure of how to answer. Sure, it would have been nice to sleep on a bed but the sofa was very comfortable and she wasn't sure just how comfortable she would be sleeping in his bed. Besides, since she was spending the night and Hotaru was already nicely situated, she decided to stay on the couch.

"I think I'll be fine here. Thanks for the offer, though. Um, you should go to bed, though. No sense in the both of us being down here."

He hesitated and she could see him wracking his mind for an appropriate answer, though she didn't see the need. It was simple. Just go. Apparently not.

"No, I'll stay down here, too. You never know when she might wake up. Besides, our sofas are really comfy, if you haven't noticed," he said with a slight smirk.

She laughed as he settled down on the loveseat.

_Just full of surprises, _Sakura thought as slumber finally took over.

* * *

_Thanks for reading and sticking with me, guys! I hope you enjoyed it! Once again, please feel free to send questions, comments, constructive criticism. I'm open to it all! _

_Some replies to my reviewers:_

_Ree-Vance: Indeed, it is _quite_ possible for one's period to make one the way Sakura was. I've had friends who've been worse haha. And the sharp pain was also related to her period. Every once in a while, it can get pretty bad. To be more anatomically accurate, the pain was really in her uterus/pelvic area but for the sake of the readers, I figured I'd be a bit more general __J_

_And thank you to everyone else who reviewed, added this story to their favorites, alerts, and who've added me to their favorite authors/author alerts list as well! You guys make my day!  
_

_blue_azn_rain  
_


End file.
